


Aftermath

by DemonAngelSakina



Series: (untitled series of connected stories) [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Firing range, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mentions of ghosts, Michael's an asshole but has morals, Vampires, discussion regarding consent, kinda interlude-y, loose connection to Two's Good Three's Better series, read the author's note!, trigger warnings listed in first author's note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25721395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonAngelSakina/pseuds/DemonAngelSakina
Summary: " Instinct warned her to not trust the assassin with her concerns and the anger boiling her blood...but, another part--a smaller, rarely desired part that ached more than she ever wished to admit--wanted to reach out to the elder in hopes that, for however little he might care, that he would be able to provide some advice...or just listen to what was wrong so that she had someone to discuss this with. "Or...Even the devil has standards.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: (untitled series of connected stories) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120061
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> **Please read this entire warning before favoriting and/or reading the whole story.**  
>  **TRIGGER WARNINGS**  
>  This story involves/references/mentions (non-graphically) another character having been sexually assaulted off-camera, two characters (one more so than the other) discussing the rape and talking about consent, one character having a (mild) mini-rant regarding the world's historical/current takes on gender inequality regarding victims of rape/abuse as a possible explanation for why one character does not want to admit/accept what happened to them, and both characters featured hinting at setting up one of them potentially killing the rapist.  
> If anything in the aforementioned warnings upsets you, then turning back now is perfectly acceptable behavior and will not be frowned upon. Thank you.

"And what, exactly, is your issue today?"

The vampiress growled low in her throat at the cold, velvet tone from behind her. She lowered the rifle in her hands and turned sharp, blood-red eyes away from the latest bullet-riddled target and onto the other vampire. "Since when do you care, Michael? Shouldn't you be beating 'Rex' into a bloody mess right now?"

"That is for later tonight, I assure you." The platinum blond said dismissively--arms folded over his chest as he stalked into the room like the well-dressed predator that he was. "And I don't care about anything other than the fact that you are wasting the day here in the firing range...and preventing me from completing that idiotic marksmanship assessment."

The vampiress opened her mouth to respond--she had a retort--but, rather than speaking, dropped her gaze and glared back at the rifle in her gloved hands. 

Had she really been in here for that long? Tristesse wasn't sure--it couldn't have been that long. It didn't feel like it had been very long since she had stormed through the doors and taken her first shot at the targets. It couldn't have been that long--had to be an hour at best...perhaps?

"Six hours." Michael responded as if reading her mind--the darker-skinned vampire examining the sharp claws on one of his hands. After allowing a moment of silence for those two words sink in, the assassin leveled his impassive glare on the younger vampire once more. "So, kindly inform me as to what exactly the issue is that has made you waste my day in such a manner."

"It is none of your--"

"It is very much my business when your business intrudes on my day, child. I shall not ask a third time."

Tristesse glared at the elder vampire once more, before casting her gaze back to the rifle in her hands...and further to the pile of spent shells at the soles of her platform boots. Instinct warned her to not trust the assassin with her concerns and the anger boiling her blood...but, another part--a smaller, rarely desired part that ached more than she ever wished to admit--wanted to reach out to the elder in hopes that, for however little he might care, that he would be able to provide some advice...or just listen to what was wrong so that she had someone to discuss this with.

Silence ticked by...until, finally, the vampiress drew in an unneeded breath and spoke--her voice barely above a whisper as it passed her pale lips. "...My brother, Jean-Luc...I think that he was raped."

A soft noise caused her to look up once more to see that the assassin had moved to lean his weight against the furthest edge of the counter in front of her--barely displacing the spent bullet boxes. The elder's crimson eyes narrowed in what looked to be contemplation as his arms folded over his chest...and the younger took that as her sign to continue.

"He...Queen Driretlan sent him to the inn in the town just outside of the castle walls. She...she had asked him to deliver something to one of the visiting lords. He did...but as he was leaving, another lord stopped him and asked to speak with him privately. Jean-Luc...he told his ghosts to wait downstairs for him--little Alice, the child ghost...I think one of the other ghosts said that she was getting tired or agitated, so they agreed..." Tristesse bowed her head to stare at the rifle in her hands--gritting her teeth in anger before she continued. "...but he was gone longer than a simple conversation should take..."

As she trailed off, Michael tilted his head to one side. "Did his ghosts intervene?"

"Kieran--the redhead highwayman with the raincape--went to check on him and..." Tristesse trailed off again--her hands tightening on the rifle as if she were imagining those hands wrapping around the throat of this unknown vampire lord. "...Jean-Luc swears that he never said 'no'."

Was she overreacting? Jean-Luc had said that she was. And others...she knew that lots of people had casual sex and one-night-stands. It was as common and old as time. But...her older brother--her dear Jean-Luc--was not one of those kinds of people. He was far too softhearted and there was too much of a romantic dreamer in him for such meaningless affairs. He had not partaken in any of those things--nothing more than a chaste kiss at the least--before he was turned, nor after, until he had met Henri...no, even then, her dear older brother had not partaken until after he and Henri had chosen to become mates.  
She knew that for the last five years, ever since Henri's 'death', her dear brother had been with no one out of whatever odd sense of 'loyalty' he still carried for the deceased wolf.

She could not believe--or maybe she was refusing to believe--that her brother had willingly allowed someone he did not know, and was not involved with, to have their way with him like this. It made no sense to her.

"Did he ever say 'yes'?"

"...What?"

"Exactly what I said. "Did he ever say 'yes'?"" Michael stated, eyes narrowed in thought over the situation. The elder vampire tilted his head to one side--regarding the younger as if he were seeing her as something other than one of many in a long list of annoyances and inconveniences to his day. "Just because a person never says 'no' to something does not mean that they are saying 'yes'. If true consent is not given, it is normally considered proper to treat that lack of consent as a clear 'no' at best and a 'fuck off' at next best."

"I'm surprised that you would think that--"

"Oh...do not go there, child. Everything between myself and that mangy fleabag of mine is consensual. If he ever wants me to stop or wants me to not give him exactly what he wants, he knows what to do to stop me...and if he does, I will stop."

Tristesse's eyes narrowed at that as she stared back at the rifle held in her white-knuckled grip. A part of her wanted to push the elder's patience--however little he might have--but...the rest of her was far more concerned about her brother and how far away he now seemed to her. She had not seen him smile in a way that felt real in five years, but now...now something seemed to have been shattered in him to the point that even his ghosts--even the cold and cruel Xianlian--were worried. "Jean-Luc...never said that he agreed to allowing that lord to touch him."

"Then, most likely, child, your suspicion is correct and your brother was raped."

"Why won't he say it like that then?" The vampiress snapped in frustrated anger--oh, her anger was not directed at her brother, no...that burning anger was directed at herself for not protecting her older brother when he had protected her, without fail, for centuries. "He can tell me the truth and--"

"Can he?" Michael asked--one pale brow raised as if challenging the younger to talk over him. "Foolish child...society and such have not changed near that much in a millennia or more. No male will admit to being sexually assaulted or even harassed in such a manner because they are always taught that it is impossible for them to be victims--for lack of better words--of such things because of their gender."

"His gender should not matter in this. Anyone can--"

"Correct...but the world at large refuses to see that." Michael said calmly, looking away from the younger vampire and focusing on the wall of lockers in front of him, but behind her. "The world at large prefers to play pretend and tell itself that "men are always rapists and abusers" while "women are incapable of such things"...completely forgetting that, in eras past, women--mothers, governesses, and the like--were often the ones first to be suspected in cases of sexual abuse on children."

Michael flipped a hand up--casually examining his claws as if he were gathering his thoughts. "Of course...there is also that oh so 'delightful' thought process that rape can only be physically done by a male when the reality of the situation is that any manner of sexual contact done to an individual against their will should be counted as exactly what it truly is."

Tristesse's jaw clenched as her hands tightened on the rifle once more--her head bowing so that her own bobbed pale blonde hair fell into her face. She knew that he was right in regards to this--the elder had already seen much in however long his lifespan had already been...and the more that she thought about it, the more that her suspicions began to confirm themselves in how her brother had behaved...how he was still behaving.  
She had seen several victims of such assaults over her own lifespan and the similarities between those that she had seen and her brother's state now...

"Tell me, child...in the era you both were born into--France, was it not? Late 1700's?--tell me, if your older brother had spoken a word, or dared to openly act upon his preference for his own gender, what exactly would have happened to him? Even before he was bitten and turned by the queen?" Michael queried, looking back at the younger as if to gauge whatever physical or verbal response she might have. "Or...better yet, what would have happened to yourself since you prefer to bed women?"

Tristesse said nothing--not wanting to remember how things had been in the past...how they often still seemed to be beyond the walls of any of the castles resided in by her queen.

"If you want to be wholly honest...the only thing that has changed in regards to that, child, is the fact that--barring certain lands--one can be open towards preferring the touch of their own gender and not have to worry about being imprisoned and executed."

"...The lord who hurt my brother deserves to be executed."

"By you?" Michael asked, uncrossing his arms and lowering a hand to pick up one of the rifle bullets from one of the partial boxes. "You are nowhere near strong enough for such a thing. Even now, you are barely stronger than a fledgling after its first feed."

"I will figure out a way!" Tristesse snapped only to clench her jaw shut when the bullet in the elder's hands...was pointed at her. The platinum blond vampire watched the younger a moment before parting his own lips to speak. "Better plan, child. Go to your brother and tell him to tell you the truth--tell him to tell you for certain if he said 'yes' or not, and do not accept that 'he never said 'no'' as an answer. If he confirms that he never said 'yes' then come find me and I will see to it that this little matter is handled under the table where even our dear queen will not need to know what has occurred."

"You...why would you help me like that? Why would you...?"

"Not another word, child. Just know this...I despise those who violate the consent of others." Michael pushed himself off of the edge of the counter and moved for the doorway. "Now...you have ten minutes to put up the rifle and clean up this mess that you've made, as well as vacate the firing range. After that, do as I have told you and go talk to your brother."

As the assassin vanished out the door, the vampiress moved to begin cleaning up the spent shells from the floor--she knew that she might end up owing the elder a debt that she could never repay after this...but if it was for her brother, the only family she had ever had, she would gladly accept any debt she would need to carry, even if it needed to be owed to the closet thing she knew to being the devil.

**Author's Note:**

> I've said it once, I say it again...Michael has strong views regarding consent. He's a sociopathic asshole, but he will not touch anyone sexually unless he is sure they are willing and they confirm it.  
> Fastest way to piss him off--outside of touching anything/anyone that he believes belongs to him--is to violate someone's consent. 
> 
> Tristesse and Jean-Luc (and his (seven) ghost 'familiars') are characters in this universe and do interact with Michael, 'Rex', and Corbeau...just not often. Jean-Luc is a childe and serves as a valet to the queen, Tristesse--his younger (bastard) half-sister--functions as a 'knight' to the queen.
> 
> On another note...please, someone, tell me that I am not the only one who gets pissed when they realize that the world still likes to act like female-rapes-male is funny or that male-rapes-male/female-rapes-female (like IRL mostly) is somehow supposed to be hot/not serious when reality is that all three situations would be pretty traumatizing for someone?


End file.
